Golf Talk

New swing technology analysis coming to the Golf Channel

It appears the Golf Channel is going high tech for the 2008 season and beyond. Starting in January, the Golf Channel will begin using a software made by Interactive Sports Games that will track a player’s tendencies such as ball-landing coordinates and spin rates. In addition the system will show its viewers visual analyses of a golfer’s tendencies such as ball flight, and side-by-side looks at how different players approach the same hole. It will include multiple views of swings and ball movement. Sounds like CBS Swingvision on steroids to me.

Before they get all freaky on us, maybe the Golf Channel should stick to basics first. Like how about showing tournaments until their end. And how about more live shots and less highlight packages. One of my biggest peeves about watching golf is not being able to see the tournament or at least the leader’s rounds from beginning to end. These two hour segments are just brutal. You can’t get a feel for how a player is playing if you’ve cut in mid-round. The absolute worst is the leaders are heading into the final two holes and then the coverage has abruptly ended for infomercials. Show us the whole match until the end.

As for the new technology here. I think it’s a good idea, but I’d rather see it as a compliment on the Golf Channel website. If I want to see a player’s tendencies, I want to be able to control who I see, what I see and how I see it. I don’t want a cookie-cutter thing that the Golf Channel has selectively chosen to feed me. If I want information, I want all of it.

My final gripe with the Golf Channel, stop subscription services. I’ve never been a fan of subscription content. I don’t consider myself cheap but I don’t pay for content. I feel content should be free. Information shouldn’t only be available to those you have money.

Well, it’s Christmas so I guess I should end my rant there.

Golf Channel

Stenson plays a practice round at Torrey Pines.

It’s never really too early to start talking about the US Open, after all, we are only 171 days, less than half a year away. The site of the 2008 US Open is Torrey Pines, normally a municipal course in sunny San Diego.

Henrik Stenson decided to take a detour last week following the Tiger hosted Target World Challenge which he competed in. Torrey Pines is also host to the Buick Invitational played every year in January, but Stenson already has plans to be in the middle east as part of the European Tour so he decided it would be a good idea to get a round in at Torrey Pines before he comes back in June. It was the first time in ten years that Stenson had payed a green fee and payed for regular range balls, you know the ones with the black stripe. Get this, he was paired for the round with someone named Pamela Anderson, except it was not the same Pam we know, just the same name.

Though Stenson got to get a good round in, the conditions will be dramatically different when the US Open rolls around. If you’ve never been to a PGA Tour event you know that the course is setup way different than it would be if you or I played on it, and that’s just a regular PGA Tour event. The US Open is like a regular PGA Tour event times 100. They always make the pin placements harder, the greens much faster and rough much thicker. I wrote earlier how Steve Marino played with a writer at a local municipal course who managed to finish under par.

Along the same lines, when Tiger said that he thought it would be nearly impossible for a 10 handicap to break a hundred in a US Open setup course will get a chance to see if he is right. At Torrey Pines, six days before the US Open, three celebrities and a Joe Hack will get their opportunity, on TV no less, to see if they can break one hundred. I’m with Tiger on this one, I doubt it will happen.

Henrick Stenson, US Open, Torrey Pines

Boo Weekley is on his way to the 2008 Masters.

Earlier today, tournament officials of the annual Masters Tournament, golf’s first major of the year, announced the 14 special invitees for the 2008 field. The lucky 14 will join the top 50 players up to March 31. The total field is expected to be around 90-96 when all is said and done, just like tournament officials like.

The lucky 14 include, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir, Henrik Stenson, Trevor Immelman, Lee Westwood, Toru Taniguchi, Nick O’Hern, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Shingo Katayama, Robert Karlsson, Richard Sterne, Soren Hansen and Anders Hansen.

Of the four major tournaments, the Masters has the most prestige. It’s the Wimbledon of golf. I read John Feinstein’s book ‘Caddy for life’ and in it, Feinstein describes how there are basically people who think the Masters is the end all be all tournament of the year, and others who are US Open people. I count myself as a US Open guy. To me, the Masters represents all that is elitist and exclusive. The US Open is populist and inclusive. The Masters is stuff corporate types, the old boys network. The US Open is for the regular guy, the everyday golfer.

Anyways, it’s great that Boo Weekley got the invite and will be headed to his first ever Masters tournament. I love his game, his attitude, and his self-made swing. He’s never taken a lesson in his life, but he knows his way around a golf course. He reminds of what it would be like for a hack like you and me to make it to the big time and how we would look and act.

Masters, Boo Weekley, PGA Tour

Tommy “Two-Gloves” is now living the dream.

Twenty five lucky souls made it through the biggest test in golf, Q School, and have earned their PGA tour cards for the 2008 season. Congratulations to,

Frank Lickliter II
Brett Rumford
Chris Stroud
Jin Park
Jason Allred
Yong-Eun Yang
Tag Ridings
Todd Demsey
Brad Adamonis
Travis Perkins
Parker McLachlin
Kent Jones
Cody Freeman
Kenneth Ferrie
Tim Wilkinson
Kevin Streelman
Dustin Johnson
Duffy Waldorf
Richard S. Johnson
Jim McGovern
Carlos Franco
Tommy Gainey
Bob Sowards
John Merrick
Alejandro Canizares
David Lutterus

One name you’ll notice right away is Tommy Gainey. Yes, that is indeed, Tommy “Two-gloves” Gainey from the Big Break. I wrote about Tommy Two-Gloves before and I just think he’s a down to earth good guy and well-deserving of making it to the big tour. Tommy has the unorthodox grip that has no overlap between hands and therefore he uses two gloves, hence the name, Tommy Two-Gloves.

Frank Lickliter led for most of the rounds, and he led all they way. Other familiar faces include Duffy Waldorf, Carlos Franco, Jim McGovern. Dustin Johnson is supposed to have tremendous upside given his collegiate success. Notable players that missed include Bob May, Bubba Dickerson, Harrison Frazar and Skip Kendall.

It really is the toughest test in golf, this and the Amateur PGA Championship. And most of it more mental than anything. It’s a grueling endurance test that takes you to the limit to see exactly what you’re made of.

Surprisingly though, graduates of the Nationwide Tour on average have more success on the PGA Tour than qualifiers that go through Q School.

Q School, Tommy two gloves Gainey

Lickliter leads heading into the final stage of Q School.

There are a bunch of news items going on in the world of golf so I’ll just brief you all on some of the storylines on this Sunday,

Frank Lickliter II was even-stevens at the Orange County National and currently has a three-stroke lead following four of six rounds in the U.S. PGA Tour National Qualifying Tournament on Saturday. With only 25 of the top finishers going on to earn 2008 U.S. PGA Tour cards the competition remains fierce. However not all is lost as players finishing between 24 and 50 will get full Nationwide Tour exemptions. All of the remaining players from the 166-man field will receive conditional Nationwide Tour status.

On the women’s side, Jane Park completed her 4-under 68 fourth round at the LPGA International to take a commanding 6-shot lead heading into the fifth round of the U.S. LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Only the top 17 players on Sunday after the fifth round will earn 2008 U.S. LPGA Tour cards, while the next 35 will receive conditional status. Unlike the men, the women’s field was narrowed to 70 players for the final round.

Englishman Richard Finch won the New Zealand Open on Sunday for his first professional victory of his career. Finch shot an even-par 72, good enough for a 3-shot margin of victory over Steven Bowditch and Paul Sheehan. The New Zealand Open is officially sanctioned by the European and Australasian tours. Finch’s final score was 14-under 274 total on The Hills course.

American Bryan Saltus finished with a solid 5-under final round to win the first ever Cambodian Open on Sunday. Saltus finished with a total score of 17-under 271 to win by 3-shots over Adam Groom of Australia. Saltus earned $47,550 for his first place finish.

Finally, Tim Rosaforte, the Golf Channel insider is reporting that Don McGuire, a high level VP at the Golf Channel has left his position. This is significant because McGuire orchestrated the move to bring live PGA Tour coverage to the Golf Channel. President Page Thompson said they were looking to go in a different direction. Speculation seems to indicate that the PGA Tour coverage may end with McGuire’s departure. This would really be a shame if true as the Golf Channel really did a good job covering the PGA Tour events, the ones that the networks didn’t pick up.

Q School, New Zealand Open

Rich Beem trying to stay on the big boy tour.

With December almost near, that can only mean one thing for a hundred or so golfers around the country, Q School. The final stage of Q School starts this Wednesday with a total of 166 golfers taking in 108 holes of golf. Q School is the mandatory qualifying tournament in order to earn a Tour Card for the upcoming PGA Tour season. Most of the players are people you’ve never heard of, but still, us golf fans can’t get enough of the grueling and heart breaking drama of Q School. They’ve already gone through the first two stages that have weeded out over a thousand aspiring professionals and the final stage represents the last 166 seeking just 30 spots on the Tour. This final stage as mentioned will be 108 holes in six days.

Q School represents the epitome of competitive golf. Where every single shot means so much. Where one missed putt could be the difference between playing on the PGA Tour and working the local golf club. You’ll see frustration, exhaustion, elation, heart break, often in the same round for each player. Imagine your boss coming to you and saying that we’re going to have a competition to see who can sell the most widgets, the top 3 of you get to keep your job, the rest of you are out. Now that’s pressure.

A couple of big names will be trying to avoid disaster by earning their tour card, Rich Beem is one of them. I posted earlier how Shigeki Maruyama did just enough to keep his card. All I can say is that it’s going to be one heck of a week for these guys.

Q School

Fedex Cup changes, more smoke and mirrors.

A couple of changes were announced today by the PGA Tour. First off, after much debate and controversy surrounding the inaugural season of the Fedex Cup, a few changes were made to accommodate the litany of complaints from both the players inside the PGA Tour and fans on the outside. The second change announced was the change to lower cut lines at all PGA Tournaments starting next season.

Fedex Cup Changes:

First off, the changes to the Fedex Cup. The first three events, The Barclays, Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship will stay the same. But now there will be a full week off before the Ryder Cup. The final leg of the Fedex Cup, the Tour Championship will be played the week after the Ryder Cup.

If you ask me, I still that’s too many weeks in a row for these guys. And they still need to do something about the 175 player field to begin with. I mean, nobody ranked 175 is going to win it, why not start at like 125. The PGA Tour supposedly listened to the players this time, as Joe Durant was representing the players, but it still seems like they haven’t really listened to what the players want.

Lower Cut Lines:

In an effort to increase the pace on the weekend matches, the PGA Tour has announced they will change the rules regarding the cut lines for all tournaments in 2008. Previously, the cut was set at somewhere in the top 70 players with ties rounding up. Well a change will be made where if the number of players exceeds 79, they will make the cut one stroke lower even if it is below 70.

This is going to be very controversial for a lot of players, as many of them use the statistic of cuts made to determine success for sponsorships and the like. While this will improve the pace of play in the final rounds, it will have a detrimental effect for the players.

PGA Tour, Fedex Cup

Justin Timberlake to bring sexy back to the PGA.

ESPN is reporting that the new celebrity host for the PGA Tour tournament known as The Shriner’s Hospital for Children Open will be Justin Timberlake who has been a busy bee this past month. Past celebrity title hosts have included Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr. and most recently Bob Hope. The official new name will be Justin Timberlake’s Shriner’s Hospital for Children Open and will be a part of the PGA Tour fall series playing the weekend of Oct. 13-19, 2008, at TPC-Summerlin.

Apparently, Justin is a 6-handicap golfer and has played in the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am each year. He is said to have a personal golf instructor and takes his clubs wherever he travels to take in a round or two. According to the report, Justin plans to qualify (or get a sponsor’s exempt) and play competitively on the PGA Tour, presumably for his own tournament.

The report also says there are plans for another avid celebrity golfer, George Lopez, to host a PGA Tour event in 2008 as well, the tournament and date yet to be determined.

I think this has to be seen as a positive for the PGA Tour. Anything to bring in new fans, which both Justin and George will do, is good for the game. Not to mention the Title Sponsor, Shriner’s Children Hospital is one of the countries top charity hospitals, the partnership of golf, charity, and celebrity is a perfect fit. We need more people interested in golf, especially, kids, young adults and minorities who think golf is an elitist sport.

Natalie Gulbis, LPGA Tour

Aussie Nick Flanagan, the best of Nationwide 2007

The Nationwide Tour wrapped up it’s season and for twenty five lucky souls, they will automatically qualify for the PGA Tour. Richard Johnson was the winner at the season-ending Nationwide Tour Championship with a 4-under round for a 20-under overall total to win both the Championship and finish as the Nationwide Tour’s top player. It is the second such win for Johnson on the Nationwide Tour this year and his total earnings popped by $139,500 to a total of $445,421.

No doubt it was a tense week for many of the players with the twenty-five PGA Tour cards on the line. The complete list of twenty five include,

Richard Johnson, Roland Thatcher, Nick Flanagan, Jon Mills, Jason Day, Nicholas Thompson, Matthew Jones, Justin Bolli, Patrick Sheehan, Paul Claxton, Ron Whittaker, Letzig, Laird, Kyle Thompson, Omar Uresti, Marc Turnesa, Brad Elder, Chez Reavie, John Riegger, Tom Scherrer, Scott Sterling, Pappas, Chad Collins, Driscoll and Jimmy Walker.

Nick Flanagan is already on the PGA Tour as he won three times earlier in the season and was bumped up according to the “battlefield” rule which essentially means if you win three times, you move up.

Those unlucky players that didn’t finish in the top twenty five, the 26-40 players on the final Nationwide Tour money list get an automatic exemption into final stage of the PGA Tour qualifying tournament. So, they will still need to go to Q school, but they start at the final stage.

I really like the system of the Nationwide Tour being the minor leagues to the PGA Tour. We’ve seen players like Masters champ Zach Johnson who was dominant on the Nationwide Tour, become really good PGA Tour players. Of all those players mentioned, I think Nick Flanagan has the best chance to have the biggest impact from this 2007 class.

Nationwide Tour, PGA Tour, Richard Johnson

Stephen Ames does his best Mickey Mouse face.

As mentioned, this was actually a really busy week of golf despite being in the fall/winter already. Heck with the fall equinox upon us, it’s by 4:30. In any case, here are the wrap ups of all three tournaments happening all around the world.

Disney Classic:

Scott Verplank led for almost three rounds, but it was Canadian Stephen Ames that endured in the end with a 17-under total for his first win of the season. It’s hard to believe that this is Ames’ first win of the year considering how well he’s played all year. so well that there was that controversy earlier in the summer with Gary Player picking Mike Wier over Ames despite Ames being ranked higher than Weir at the time. In second place was South African Tim Clark at 16-under. Scott Verplank finished in a tie for third.

Singapore Open:

After taking the lead earlier on Friday, Angel Cabrera would see everyone in his rear view mirror on his way to another win this year. Cabrera, of course, famously beat Tiger Woods to win the US Open earlier in the year. The chain-smoking hard-hitting Argentinian won despite missing many a fairway early in the round. The closest player to Cabrera was Vijay Singh who put some pressure on Cabrera with some big eagles on his front nine but fell short by 1. Phil Mickelson, lefty, was pretty much off the entire tournament closed with a ghastly 79. Eeek, maybe it’s to find a new swing coach, Phil.

Volvo Masters:

In the tournament which Ernie Els should be celebrating, instead Justin Rose wins the Volvo Masters and the Order of Merit as the European Tour’s best player. Rose nearly blew a four shot lead heading into the final round but salvaged his round to reach a playoff and won on the second hole. Rose has had a great season overall despite not winning much. He looks to be finally achieving the potential of the next great European player and is definitely one to watch for next year.

PGA Tour, Disney Classic, Singapore Open, Volvo Masters

Scottie in the driver seat after two.

In a busy weekend of golf, there are 3 separate tournaments taking place around the world. And you thought they didn’t play golf in the winter…

Disney Classic:

We’ll start on the continental USA where the PGA’s final stop in the fall series is the Disney Classic in Lake Buena Vista (FL) just outside of Orlando. Scott Verplank is your clubhouse leader after 2 rounds at 12-under. Canadian Stephen Ames shot the low round of the day a 63 to get into a three-way tie with Tag Ridings (66) and Ryan Armour (64) for second just 1-shot behind Verplank at 11-under.

Singapore Open:

US Open champion Angel Cabrera is your clubhouse leader at the Singapore Open, part of the Asian Tour. After all the hoopla over Ernie Els decision to skip the ET for the Singapore Open, Els shot a 5-over today and missed the cut. Hey, maybe now he can fly to Spain and watch Justin Rose pick up his Order of Merit. Back to the results, Phil Mickelson was the other big name, but had an off-round shooting 1-over par and is currently ninth and six shots behind Cabrera.

Volvo Masters:

Justin Rose and British Open champion Padraig Harrington are duking it out for the Order of Merit that should be going to Ernie Els. Rose is at 4-under par for the tournament after shooting 5 birdies in the back nine of his round today and is the only player under par after two rounds. Rival Padraig Harrington is at even-par after two rounds.

PGA Tour, Disney Classic, Singapore Open, Volvo Masters

The first one is always the sweetest.

The weather wreaked havoc all week, but in the end, a first-time winner and an old veteran walked away all smiles on Monday. Daniel Chopra of Sweden picked up the $810,000 cheque for first-place beating Shigeki Maruyama and Frederick Jacobsen by 1-shot with a 19-under total over 72 holes. Chopra is the twelfth first-time winner on the Tour this year, many of those coming in the fall series and pre-season.

It was hard to tell who was happier, Chopra or Maruyama. The second place finish for Maruyama ensures his PGA Tour card for next year and you could tell that was more than a consolation for coming in second. After reading John Feinstein’s book, Tales from Inside Q School, gaining your Tour card and bypassing that grueling experience must feel like heaven. Maruyama used to be a regular on leaderboards and a perennial top 50 player, but this past season has been his toughest to date. According to Maruyama, it was “the most difficult year in eight years” and that he was “really happy” to have qualified for next year.

Back to the champion, Daniel Chopra. The swede, with Indian heritage, was one of those journeymen who seemed to have played on every tour on the face of the earth. The Nationwide, European Tour, Asian Tour, Chopra has done all of them waiting for his breakthrough. Well, he has that now with his first PGA Tour win. Chopra has played well this year with 3 top 10s and making more than half of the cuts he entered this year, it was really a matter of time before Chopra broke through.

After posting about John Daly earlier in the week, his story got even more bizarre after he withdrew on Sunday for no apparent reason. His withdrawal came after a quad-bogey, mix in the bad weather and it’s easy to see what happened there.

The PGA Tour heads to it’s final stop in the fall series starting on Thursday at the Children’s Miracle Network Classic played at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista (FL).

PGA Tour, Ginn sur Mer Classic, Daniel Chopra, Shigeki Maruyama

Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t do it.

The PGA fall series continues this week with the Ginn sur Mer Classic at the Tesoro Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Again, none of the big names are here. Phil Mickelson played last week only because his sponsor required him to, and didn’t play like he cared missing the cut. Mike Weir took his trophy and drove home back to Utah after winning last week. So, who’s left you ask?? Plenty.

First off, Mark Calcavecchia will be playing as will Justin Leonard just to name a couple. Justin got back in win column winning the Texas open just a few weeks ago and Mark has played solidly all year starting with the first event of the year back in January. Other top candidates include Sean O’Hair who has been magnificent of late, coming just short of winning. Carl Pettersson has shown flashes of his Memorial win from last year. Finally a couple of other guys like Steve Flesch and Heath Slocum could sneak up and end up with a win.

A couple of other names to keep an eye on, Kevin Na and Ryuji Imada. Both are young and inexperienced but have the game to become first-time winners here this week.

And what about Jay Williamson, they guy who took Hunter Mahan to a playoff earlier in the year and also fired his caddy mid-round a week later. He’s a guy that is playing with a lot of confidence and could certainly make a move this week considering the weaker field.

I think the players are just glad they aren’t playing in California right now. Despite the fires, the Nationwide Tour events will go on. As they say, the show must go on…

PGA Tour, Ginn sur Mer Classic, Mark Calcavecchia, Justin Leonard

Weir finds his groove.

After three-and-a-half years, Mike Weir got a big monkey off his back by capturing the Frys Electronic Open at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Canadian won in the same way he has always done, coming back from behind. Coming from 4-shots behind, Mike Weir shot a 2-under 68 in his final round beating Mark Hensby by one shot.

For Weir, the year could not have finished any sweeter. After carrying that three-and-half-year burden of not winning for the past several years, Mike Weir had a career defining win beating Tiger Woods at Royal Montreal last month at the President’s Cup. Though the International Team ultimately lost, Weir carried that confidence over to the last few fall tournament events culminating in the win on Sunday.

As for the rest of the contenders, Mark Hensby was second, Billy Mayfair came third, while third-round leader Carl Pettersson and Sean O’Hair tied for fourth. The turning point came on the 15th hole when Weir sunk a birdie putt to stay ahead of Hensby. Meanwhile, Sean O’Hair made a charge on the 16th tying Weir for the lead briefly before giving it all back on the 17th with the double-bogey.

I’m from Canada, so the win for Weir is fulfilling. With the win, Weir ties George Knudson for the all-time PGA victories record for a Canadian. In a country where there are diehard golf fans, but few to cheer for, Weir has been nothing short of a Canadian icon. Could this signal his return to his form in 2003 when he won the Masters? I certainly hope so, Mike isn’t the biggest hitter on tour, but he’s a master with the irons and can really shape shots, very much like a David Toms.

PGA Tour, Frys Electronics, Mike Weir

Phil can’t seem to keep his eyes open for this one.

The former US Amateur champion, Ryan Moore, shot a blistering 63 yesterday to take the lead heading into today’s round at the Frys.com open. Meanwhile, the biggest name in the field this week, Phil Mickelson struggled to find any consistency and wound up with a 71 for a 1-over total and missed the cut.

Ryan Moore is from the Seattle-area, so he’s a familiar name around my parts. After having surgery to repair his left hand last year, he has struggled with his shot making. But Moore made a slight swing change a week ago and it appears that he has it going on again. Despite the hand problems, Moore had a decent year going. Three runner up finishes and a possible win this week would go a long way to establishing himself as a possible major championship contender come April.

Other contenders include Mark Hensby, Ben Crane, and Daisuke Maruyama all at 8-under. Mike Weir is at 7-under. With a full 3-shot lead, I think Ryan holds them off and takes this by Sunday, though stranger things have happened.

As for Phil Mickelson, what else can you expect? Phil hadn’t played in almost a month (who knows what he was doing during his time off) and just really hasn’t been in any competition since. In fact, at the President’s Cup, Phil’s last competitive golf activity, Phil appeared to be more interested in Ping Pong than actually playing to win.

Joining Phil for early exists include John Daly, Aaron Baddeley and David Duval.

PGA Tour, Frys.com, Ryan Moore, Phil Mickelson